Wyoming non-resident moose

[highplainsdrifter]

I cant imagine spending a week in 24 and not seeing moose, assuming you look in the right places that time of year.

I think the trouble most people have, is that they don't get a chance to hunt them often enough to learn their habits. Things change all through the year with moose, and where they are at each time of the year is not intuitive.

One of our hobbies is wildlife watching. We especially like to look for moose. We have spent quite a bit of time in the Bighorns, Snowies, Sierra Madres and elsewhere photographing moose. So we think we know where to look for them.

Also, the locals we talked to (a guy spraying weeds, a man and wife coming back from a backcountry horse packing trip and a couple of others) told us they seldom see moose in area 24.

Thirteen out of fifteen resident moose hunters got a bull in the unit last fall...so I'm sure there are moose there, but I decided to put in for a different unit for this fall.

 

[BuzzH]

I don't know as much as I should about moose either, but I wouldn't use the Snowies or Bighorns as a litmus test for understanding moose. Those areas have a high density of moose compared to just about anywhere.

I've been fortunate to spend most of my life working in the woods in some sort of moose habitat in ID, MT, WY, UT and CO...and what I've learned is it all isn't created equal. What applies in one state, or one region of the State, doesn't mean much. That is to say, animals like elk and mule deer are much more predictable from State to State, region to region...not that tough to figure out. Moose? Not so much in my experience.

To give examples, and again I'm not a moose expert, only been on 7 successful shiras hunts over the years.

In Montana I drew a hunt that started Nov 15 and went through Dec 15. I "scouted" the area in September and the moose were in the willows/red osier dogwood along major creeks and small rivers. Saw lots of moose. When my hunt started, I couldn't find a moose low at all where I'd seen them in September, no tracks, no sign, no nothing. With nothing to lose, I started to hunt higher and when I got into the sub-alpine and lodgepole dominated habitats, I started seeing tracks and sign right away. Those moose had pulled UP into smaller drainages at higher elevations, I would guess after the rut. They were using small openings and edge habitat on small open areas and in small tributaries. That's NOT what I would have expected...I thought with snow and cold up high, they would be down in the same bottoms I saw them in, in September.

This provided quite the challenge as I wasn't really prepared to be driving/hiking/packing moose in a couple/three feet of snow. I ended up killing this bull in a very small meadow I located in the middle of a mixed conifer stand by following tracks. There were 5 moose in the opening when I killed this one:

My younger brother drew the same area, but his hunt started September 15...knowing what I saw when I drew many years prior, I told him to look in the lower elevation stuff until after the rut. He found this bull probably 1500-2000 feet lower in elevation and about 6 miles from where I killed my bull.

My Dad drew 2 cow permits in the area just to the South and it was the same story...in November, the moose were using small openings in dense conifer stands at higher elevation than where they were in September/October.

Another friend drew and again we found moose in the very highest portions of bigger tributaries or in small openings in the conifers, not exactly intuitively obvious when they could have been in much lower willow/red osier dogwood bottoms.

 

[BuzzH]

My Dad and I both drew unit 24 as well...and those hunts were a lot different. When Dad drew, rifle season started on October 1. The bulls and cows were together for the most part and a lot of the moose we saw were in the bottoms or very close to the bottoms.

I scouted a few days before my Dad and Brother got there and saw 17 bulls and about that many cow/calves including 2 cows with radio collars.

Opening day, Dad shot this bull about 2 hours before dark in the black of a recent fire. I just happened to get lucky and glassed up him and a cow bedded in the black...his antlers stuck out pretty well.

I drew 3 years later and my hunt was about the polar opposite, but also started September 15th. I couldn't find a moose low to save my hide...nothing. All the moose I glassed were up on the ridgetops, some above timberline even. I found several bulls in aspen stands surrounded by sagebrush/bitterbrush on the upper 1/4 of the ridges. They were not easy to see since the leaves were still on the aspen for the most part. Which brings up another point, moose don't move a whole lot when feeding, and for their size, they blend in pretty well. I found 2 bulls together in probably an acre sized clump of aspen. I lucked out finding those, as I was watching a couple mule deer bucks that were close to the aspen clump the 2 bull moose were in. I also saw some on the upper conifer ridges, feeding in the transition zones between the sage/bitterbrush. Wayyy different than 5 years prior when we hunted the exact same country.

I glassed my bull right at daylight walking across a dry ridgetop heading up to a mixed stand of limber pine/Douglas-fir to, I assume, bed for the day. My brother and I double-timed it up the slope and caught a break when the bull stopped to feed on a small flat spot full of bitterbrush on the edge of the conifers.

You can see in this picture how high on the ridge this bull was:

Point being that I don't hunt moose enough to know a whole lot about them, but IME, they don't behave like I feel they "should". Where we've found and killed them is not really what I had pictured in my mind when the tag showed up in the mail. YMMV...

 

[highplainsdrifter]

Thanks for the perspective Buzz!

I found our Area 24 scouting trip to be very disappointing. We searched high and low (mostly driving, but some hiking) and talked to locals who spend quite a bit of time there. It was beautiful country and looked like it should hold a lot of moose. But we didn't see even a cow during a whole week of scouting.

My best guess (and its only guess) is that the previous winter, which was horrendous, pushed a lot of moose to a lower elevation (Area 25) and they had not yet returned to Area 24. The rut, in late September and early October, probably got the bulls moving back into Area 24 again...hence the relatively high hunter success rate in Area 24 last fall.

Or we just got really unlucky during our scouting trip and all moose decided to hide from us

 

[Hilltop]

Only 1 month left to wait for Wyoming results.

 

[DH56]

16 PP's and counting......at almost 62, my time is running out.

Thanks Buzz for your detailed perspective and hunts.

 

[fackelberry]

Thanks for the perspective Buzz!

I found our Area 24 scouting trip to be very disappointing. We searched high and low (mostly driving, but some hiking) and talked to locals who spend quite a bit of time there. It was beautiful country and looked like it should hold a lot of moose. But we didn't see even a cow during a whole week of scouting.

My best guess (and its only guess) is that the previous winter, which was horrendous, pushed a lot of moose to a lower elevation (Area 25) and they had not yet returned to Area 24. The rut, in late September and early October, probably got the bulls moving back into Area 24 again...hence the relatively high hunter success rate in Area 24 last fall.

Or we just got really unlucky during our scouting trip and all moose decided to hide from us

I was one of the lucky 13 residents who got a bull. mine was about identical size as Buzz's dads bull. I started scouting in the middle of July, i seen fresh moose sign when i hiked about half a mile off a trail head, but didnt see a moose on that trip in my area. I went back in early August and seen 2 bulls in the southern part of 24 and that was it on that 3 day scouting trip. But the closer to Sept 1st and on until Oct. 1st i seen alot more bulls and cows around. I did ALOT of glassing from high vantage points. I would sit for 2or 3 hours in my truck behind binos and spotting scope. Then repeat for a few hours in a different spot in the evening. I agree with Buzz, i tried the driving and covering county and looking in all the usual "moosey" places but was let down and didnt see much at all. I think the key to that area with as many roads and high glassing spots is to get high where you can see along ways in the morning and evenings and just glass. Thats how i found most of the moose i spotted, plus alot of elk that i didnt have a tag for because i drew a type 1 for another area. But there are decent amounts of moose in that area, just have to be patient and glass, glass, glass.

 

[highplainsdrifter]

I was one of the lucky 13 residents who got a bull. mine was about identical size as Buzz's dads bull. I started scouting in the middle of July, i seen fresh moose sign when i hiked about half a mile off a trail head, but didnt see a moose on that trip in my area. I went back in early August and seen 2 bulls in the southern part of 24 and that was it on that 3 day scouting trip. But the closer to Sept 1st and on until Oct. 1st i seen alot more bulls and cows around. I did ALOT of glassing from high vantage points. I would sit for 2or 3 hours in my truck behind binos and spotting scope. Then repeat for a few hours in a different spot in the evening. I agree with Buzz, i tried the driving and covering county and looking in all the usual "moosey" places but was let down and didnt see much at all. I think the key to that area with as many roads and high glassing spots is to get high where you can see along ways in the morning and evenings and just glass. Thats how i found most of the moose i spotted, plus alot of elk that i didnt have a tag for because i drew a type 1 for another area. But there are decent amounts of moose in that area, just have to be patient and glass, glass, glass.

Congratulations on your moose!

It is interesting to note that on your July scouting trip you saw no moose and on your early August trip you saw only two moose. That plus my trip in early August which produced no moose and my discussions with many locals who were not seeing moose, leads me to believe they were not there. We didn't miss them...they simply weren't there.

I'm inclined to stick with my previous theory: Due to the horrendous snowfall the previous winter/spring, most moose were forced to lower elevations and did not return to Area 24 until September/October when the rut got them moving again.

 

[fackelberry]

I didn;t see any in July but i seen fresh moose droppings and thieir beds in the willows when i hiked in off a trail head. They were there, they were just hanging in the dark green timber staying cool except for the early mornings and late evenings. Moose are black and in July and early August when i was there it was between 80-85 degress up there. Them moose won't be out in the sun much when its that hot being black. Wrap yourself in a sleeping bag and stand out in the sun when its that hot, bet you head for the shade after only a few minutes. Thats about how the moose hide would be. Alot of the locals i seen just drive the roads or hang out in the usual people spots, most moose arent gonna hang close to them areas. I know the moose were in there earlier than i was in July too, had a friends brother go over in late June to scout potetial elk spots and he said he seen 2 bull moose together then about a mile up a creek drainage well into area 24. Like i said before, most people drive around and if they don't see moose they think they are not there, when they could of came out later in the evening when its cooler for them long after everyone is in camp or back to town so they dont miss dinner. I personally seen this with the elk over there. Everyone was buzzing around on 4 wheelers or side by sides and come closer to dark they all headed back to camps, i had 2 bull elk walk out from the timber below me about 30 minutes before dark at a lasered 640 yards. I know i could of closed a couple hundred yards and shot the bigger bull which was a small 6x6. But no elk tag, so i just watched them feed til dark and kept looking for moose. You can decide on your own what to make of it, i just know what i seen and the sign i seen. Area 26 is a good area too. You can't go wrong with either one.

 

[highplainsdrifter]

I didn;t see any in July but i seen fresh moose droppings and thieir beds in the willows when i hiked in off a trail head. They were there, they were just hanging in the dark green timber staying cool except for the early mornings and late evenings. Moose are black and in July and early August when i was there it was between 80-85 degress up there. Them moose won't be out in the sun much when its that hot being black. Wrap yourself in a sleeping bag and stand out in the sun when its that hot, bet you head for the shade after only a few minutes. Thats about how the moose hide would be. Alot of the locals i seen just drive the roads or hang out in the usual people spots, most moose arent gonna hang close to them areas. I know the moose were in there earlier than i was in July too, had a friends brother go over in late June to scout potetial elk spots and he said he seen 2 bull moose together then about a mile up a creek drainage well into area 24. Like i said before, most people drive around and if they don't see moose they think they are not there, when they could of came out later in the evening when its cooler for them long after everyone is in camp or back to town so they dont miss dinner. I personally seen this with the elk over there. Everyone was buzzing around on 4 wheelers or side by sides and come closer to dark they all headed back to camps, i had 2 bull elk walk out from the timber below me about 30 minutes before dark at a lasered 640 yards. I know i could of closed a couple hundred yards and shot the bigger bull which was a small 6x6. But no elk tag, so i just watched them feed til dark and kept looking for moose. You can decide on your own what to make of it, i just know what i seen and the sign i seen. Area 26 is a good area too. You can't go wrong with either one.

When we were there in August, it was quite cool. One morning, there was a heavy frost on the windshield. So the moose should have been in the open in the mornings and evenings which is when we concentrated our scouting efforts. While there could have been a few moose that we missed, I am convinced we didn't miss a bunch.

I believe that most moose were forced out of the area by heavy snow the previous winter and spring and had not returned by early August. Take a look at the attached map of Area 24. You will note that the unit runs north and south with the west boundary being the top of the mountain range. The eastern edge comes about 2/3 of the way down the mountain and generally ends at the boundary between the Forest Service and BLM. Because Area 24 is essentially the highest part of the mountain range, it no doubt got a lot of snow the previous winter and spring. It makes sense that most moose would have bailed out of the unit to the BLM and private lowlands to the east.

Looks to me that last year we had some vertical migration going on due to heavy mountain snow. Because moose are long-legged hearty animals, snow normally doesn't phase them...but last year's snow may have been too much. Would love to have had some tracking collars on them last year!



Take a look at this article...especially the section on Home Range and Movements.

https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/animals/mammal/alam/all.html#HomeRangeAndMovements

 

[Ikeepitcold]

I shot a younger bull with 8 days left in the season. I passed a few bigger than the one i shot trying to find a whopper but never did see one. I seen a decent amount of bulls and cows in the area though. I tried holding off for a big one, just never seen one. Seen my bull 100 yards off the road and decided to shoot him and not waste my tag. Glad i did. I skinned, quartered, and packed whole thing by myself to the truck. Glad it wasnt any farther than that. He ended up being 5 on each paddle and 31 inches wide. The meat is awesome to say the least. As soon as i can get back in the game i will start applying again.

That?s very awesome you filled your tag and the freezer.

 

[Hilltop]

24 hours until the results are posted.... Good luck to those with their name in the hat.

 

[Bonecollector]

Good luck hilltop!

 

[Hilltop]

No Bull Moose tag for me. Surprising number of points spent on cow moose this year. Area 38 took 14 points for a cow... a few guys decided they were done with the high priced points i guess.

 

[boiler]

No luck here either!

 

[jtm307]

Well what do you know! I drew a bull moose tag in area 38... in my dreams. Oh well. Points for me.

 

[BAKPAKR]

I gave up on sheep several years ago due to the preference point cost and being limited by where I could hunt due to my NR status and not wanting to go with a guide. By the time the cost of moose preference points went up, I thought I was too close to give up. But then, I just stayed 1 point behind where I needed to be. I got lucky this year and drew area 23 with 17 points. With the points I had, I would probably have continued applying in the future had I not drawn. However, I won?t start again after my waiting period has passed unless a lot of people drop out of the game.